For reasons unknown to this writer, the animated output of The Walt Disney Company is not always seen as "high art." That one can see even the Disney films of the late 1980s and early 1990s and see merely crass commercialism is shocking. The hand-drawn features Disney's studio has been releasing since 1937 are absolute proof of "cartoons" as controlled works of art, an image Disney did everything he could to perpetuate. No more evident was Disney's commitment to art than with Fantasia, first
Speaking of Rhino, a Black Friday Sampler for Buyers
As anyone who's traveled the Rhino Web site today might have noticed, you will receive a free Rhino Handmade digital sampler with any purchase made on the Web site between today and Sunday. The track list is: Hey Jude - Wilson Pickett (from Funky Midnight Mover: The Studio Recordings 1961-1978) Porpoise Song - The Monkees (from Head: Deluxe Edition) Not Right (John Cale Mix) - The Stooges (from The Stooges: Collector's Edition) Fan Tan (Stereo Mix) - Jan & Dean (from Carnival of
Rhino to Get Warm and Tender for Percy Sledge in New Box Set (UPDATED 11/26)
Rhino Handmade's next big title is a box set devoted to Percy Sledge's tenure with Atlantic Records. Before he was the "King of Country Soul," Sledge was an Alabama-born former hospital worker, playing with a soul combo on weekends. In 1966 he signed to Atlantic, and, following a break-up with a longtime girlfriend, recorded a simple, heartfelt single, "When a Man Loves a Woman." The impassioned, off-the-cuff delivery (an entirely honest one - Sledge improvised the lyrics on the spot) helped
La La Land's Year-End Releases Are a Really Big Deal
It's not Hook, but La La Land Records has another title of John Williams' from the same part of the alphabet in their last batch, as well as several other hotly-requested titles from some of the most beloved composers of the modern age. A full rundown is after the jump!
Happy Thanksgiving from The Second Disc!
A quick note on behalf of myself and Joe wishing you, the treasured reader, a happy Thanksgiving. We may fuss and gripe about reissues and box sets, mastering errors and badly packaged discs - but we are continually thankful for your patronage. We thank all who have read our work, told their friends, linked to us from other sites - cumulative hit counts are somewhere above 230,000 since starting in January, which is tremendous and exciting. We will be back tomorrow to provide you a reprieve
Gold Legion Prepping Vintage '80s Titles
A pair of LPs from EMI's 1980s catalogue is coming out on CD through the Gold Legion label. The first up is Don't Suppose, the solo debut album from Limahl in 1984. The uniquely coiffed, uniquely named singer (whose stage name was a rearranged version of his real surname, Hamill) had recently left (or had been asked to leave) the band Kajagoogoo (of "Too Shy" fame). Don't Suppose was not a success in itself, but yielded two U.K. hits, "Only for Love" and the theme to the film The Never Ending
The Final Word: How Not to Do Box Sets, by Warner Bros.
Since our last post on The Tim Burton/Danny Elfman 25th Anniversary Music Box, a lot more dirt has been kicked up regarding the box, its limited availability and opinions thereof. It turns out that the "limited edition" of the box is very much like The Complete Elvis Presley Masters. (The only difference between editions of the Elvis set is one run has numbers, the other does not.) The first 1,000 copies of the Burton/Elfman set, it was semi-confirmed before all copies sold out, would have a
Back Tracks: INXS
As promised, today's Back Tracks takes a look at the music and reissues of INXS in honor of its fallen frontman, Michael Hutchence, who died 13 years ago yesterday. Don't change after the jump.
Early White Stripes LPs Coming Back to Vinyl
The White Stripes have announced the reissue of their first three LPs on 180-gram vinyl through founder Jack White's Third Man Records label. Formed in the late 1990s in Detroit, vocalist/guitarist Jack and drummer Meg White created a unique sound that was forged in the classic traditions of garage rock, punk and blues. Their lo-fi, powerful tunes earned massive critical acclaim in the early 2000s, even as fans and critics sought to find out the truth behind the duo's unusual relationship.
Intrada Draws "First Blood"
Not to be outdone by Varese Sarabande's batch of soundtracks from yesterday or La La Land's forthcoming Black Friday announcement, Intrada has made two more catalogue soundtracks available for order. While Intrada has become a power player in the catalogue soundtrack world in the past decade, the label has actually been around for 25 years. Their first significant release was the premiere CD edition of First Blood, the Jerry Goldsmith score to the iconic Sylvester Stallone film. (It was given a
Memories of Michael
No, not Jackson. On this day in 1997, Michael Hutchence, the charismatic singer of Australian rock band INXS, was found dead in a hotel room in Sydney. He was 37. Tomorrow, The Second Disc will present a special installment of Back Tracks honoring his work with INXS and elsewhere, but as a temporary memorial we wanted to point out two INXS-oriented articles for your reading pleasure. The first is one of our first Reissue Theory posts from back in February, where we covered the band's
Review: The Stooges, "Have Some Fun: Live at Ungano's"
Perhaps more than any other band, you can learn a great deal about The Stooges without ever taking a really close listen to their music. For instance, when Raw Power, the band's final album before a lengthy split, was remastered and reissued in 1997, chaotic lead singer Iggy Pop personally remastered the album to be as unlistenable as possible. Volume levels were at a violent, threatening level - a potent reminder of the band's sonic death wish and Pop's iconic, self-destructive attitude. The
Release Round-Up: Week of November 23
With most retailers putting out their new releases today to get a jump on the inevitable holiday weekend blitz, here's the big catalogue releases for the week a day early! Michael Jackson, Michael Jackson's Vision (Epic/Legacy) A three-DVD set that includes just about any MJ video you could be searching for. Of course, the one unreleased clip just officially hit the Internet, making you wonder what the fuss is all about. Oh wait, it's Michael Jackson. (Official site) Jay-Z, The Hits
Varese's Vault Yields Several Treasures
A heads-up to soundtrack enthusiasts who read The Second Disc: this week is your week. No less than three of the major indie labels will be releasing product this week; tonight we will see two new titles from Intrada (one of which is more or less confirmed to be an unlimited deluxe edition of Jerry Goldsmith's score to First Blood), and La La Land will announce four titles on Black Friday. This morning, though, Varese Sarabande released their final batch of CD Club titles for the year. And
Sale of Burton/Elfman Box Features More Twists, Turns Than Burton/Elfman Films
If you check the official Web site of The Danny Elfman & Tim Burton 25th Anniversary Music Box, you'll notice that less than 100 copies of these $500-plus, mammoth box sets remain. That's not bad at all, for a box set of that price. So why, then, can you order the set on Amazon and Best Buy? Perhaps we're getting a bit ahead of ourselves here. When the box set was announced back in September, the big unanswered question (as always) was whether the limited, numbered run was the only
Friday Feature: "Mary Poppins"
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuWf9fP-A-U] This month has seen a resurgence of interest in The Sound of Music thanks to an impressive reissue of the film on Blu-Ray and another release of the classic film soundtrack on CD. Countless amounts of kids and adults have grown up on the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic, made especially memorable by Julie Andrews as the free-spirited Maria Von Trapp - a role that earned her a second Oscar nomination, just one year after her win for Mary
In Case You Missed It: Shaking Off the Dust
In October, Epic remastered and reissued Shake Off the Dust...Arise, the debut album by reggae artist Matisyahu. If that name isn't sounding particularly "reggae," it's because the artist - born Matthew Miller and raised in White Plains, New York - is a Hasidic Jewish artist. The juxtaposition of these two cultures - note-perfect in the reggae tradition, but sung by a bearded, soft-spoken man in traditional Hasidic garb - nonetheless made Matisyahu a notable act, and debut single "King Without
Review: The Apple Records Remasters, Part 5 - Apple, Collected and Boxed
In the final part of our Apple Records series, we open the import-only Apple Box Set and spin the label's first-ever "greatest hits" set. While the label only lasted a tumultuous seven years between 1968 and 1976, the legacy of Apple Records survives on today’s radio airwaves: “Those Were the Days.” “Day After Day.” “Come and Get It.” Notwithstanding The Beatles’ albums, both solo and as a group, that bore the famous label design, there was no shortage of great music emanating from the Savile
Reissue Theory: Quincy Jones, "Back on the Block"
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we reflect on well-known albums of the past and the reissues they could someday see. This week, Quincy Jones' latest mingling with a new generation of artists leads to a recollection of the first (and best) time he did it. Last week saw the release of Q: Soul Bossa Nostra, the first full-fledged studio album by Quincy Jones since Basie and Beyond back in 2000. Now, Q is one of the greatest figures in pop and soul music alive today. He's
New U.K. Sister Sledge Comp is Another Way to Get Your CHIC On
If you love Rhino France's new CHIC box set as much as we do here at The Second Disc HQ (expect a review up in a few days or so), here's another title you'll probably enjoy: the Music Club Deluxe label in the U.K. is releasing a new two-disc compilation for Sister Sledge. Sister Sledge, indeed comprised of Philadelphia-based sisters named Sledge (Kim, Debbi, Joni and Kathy), were a moderately successful R&B/dance group in the Atlantic label group (first signing to Atco, then Cotillion) that
Review: The Apple Records Remasters, Part 4 - Harrison's Soulful Trio
In the penultimate installment of our weeklong series on the new Apple Records remasters, we listen to the label's three most soulful singers: Jackie Lomax, Doris Troy and Billy Preston, and along the way, encounter George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and a number of their most famous friends! In yesterday’s installment, we looked at the less commercial side of Apple Records. Today, we turn the spotlight on four records that positively smoke, by three soulful troubadours. The funky
Fox Turns Searchlights on Its Musical Legacy
From Varese Sarabande comes the track list to a really great-looking set: a compilation of music from the films of 20th Century Fox. The long-running film studio celebrated its 75th anniversary this year with a newly-enhanced opening logo (still maintaining that iconic fanfare as penned by Alfred Newman in 1933), and plans to release a massive set of DVDs (from Cavalcade (1933) to Avatar (2009)) on December 7. That same date will see the release of 20th Century Fox: 75 Years of Great Film
Review: The Apple Records Remasters, Part 3 - Esoteric to the Core
In Part 3 of our five-part Apple Records series, we look at a number of the non-rock recordings released under the Apple umbrella. As the home of Apple Records, 3 Savile Row, London, saw many of rock’s greatest musicians pass through its doors. But Ron Kass, the American expatriate headhunted from Liberty Records to be Apple’s first head, knew the importance of building a diverse catalogue across many genres. In its short years as an active label, Apple certainly took Kass’ belief to heart, and
In Case You Missed It: Dead or Alive Spun Right Round
Here's a title that slipped through our radar a few weeks back: a new compilation by '80s dance-pop sensations Dead or Alive. DoA, the brainchild of Liverpudlian singer Pete Burns, was founded in 1980 and gradually got successful off the back of some catchy, up-tempo tunes and Burns' video-ready, gender-bending outfits (frequently accessorized with an eyepatch). After a steady string of mid-charting U.K. singles, including a cover of KC and The Sunshine Band's "That's the Way (I Like It)," DoA
The Most Exciting Announcement of Last Year
The Beatles are on iTunes. The Beatles are on iTunes. The Beatles. Are. On iTunes. And? In typical Apple/music press fashion, the Internet is hugging itself over the notion that all of the remastered albums in The Beatles' catalogue - the U.K. studio albums, the U.S. version of Magical Mystery Tour, the Past Masters compilation and the Red and Blue albums - are now available for digital download. Much of the coverage is laughably hyperbolic, considering there's not much more to say other than
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